A Risk Worth Taking
by surefireglambert
Summary: When Kurt starts a new school and is given a seat next to the mysterious boy named Blaine with an unknown past and shocking good looks, things take a turn for the unexpected. badboy!Blaine, Klaine!AU. WIP/OVER
1. Prologue

**KURT'S POV**

They say you need to live your life to the fullest. Live with no regrets; enjoy every second you've been granted. Don't let anyone rule your life or influence your choices. Live your life the way you want to.

They also say you're responsible for your own actions. That you always have the choice in your own life and your actions and decisions are your responsibility, no one else's.

So when I ended up in the police station, in a monitored room with three intimidating-looking police officers staring at me, maybe I should have felt like it was my fault. But it wasn't, so I shouldn't. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my idea to do it, not my intentions to end up here. It started off as a practical joke, really. Just a stupid way of trying not to lose him that ultimately backfired.

He's here with me of course, he was involved as well, but he has his usual look-at-me-not-caring-about-anything look. I know that's a lie though. He cares about a lot of things; he just puts on that façade in order to look tough. He cares for more than you'd ever imagine.

He told me he's never cared for anything or anyone like he cares for me. I always ask for an elaboration, like what I did exactly to earn that honor, but he always changes the subject. Either that or kisses me with his soft lips that taste of a mixture of spearmint, coffee and cigarette smoke and his rough stubble that contrasts greatly with his lips.

His appearance and personality are drastically different, completely deceiving if you only knew one or the other. His looks, aside from being exceedingly gorgeous, could be described as gruff and shaggy. Untamed curls, bushy eyebrows, piercing hazel-green eyes, an eyebrow and lip ring, along with about four or five other piercings in each ear and a tattoo on his lower, inner arm. That's only the typically visible one, he has others on his lower back, mid-torso and the middle of his foot (left to be exact).

But his past, that's hidden, mysterious. He told me I'm the first he's ever told about his life, but I know I don't know everything. He's never said anything about how much I know or don't know. I think he wants me to think I know it all. But I don't. Whenever we're talking about our childhood or something from earlier in our lives, I'll make the mistake of asking him a question and he'll automatically change the subject.  
>People who aren't hiding things don't do that.<p>

But I love him. I've never said that to him though. He's made it perfectly clear he doesn't want that serious of a relationship right now, so I haven't brought it up. I know he cares about me, a lot actually. That one four-letter word is a lot to say and I don't want to rush anything. We've been together for a little over two months, but it wasn't an easy ride to get here…

It never is, is it?


	2. Chapter 1

_**6 Months Earlier**_

_Kurt's POV_

_103, 104, 105_. I looked up at the metal piece on the locker that read _105_, the number on my schedule that was supposedly my assigned locker. I quickly twisted the three number combination and pull it open, placing some books on the cramped shelves.

Upon slamming it shut a few moments later, two burly men who appeared to be jocks of some sort came sauntering down the hall in letterman jackets, holding cups full of what looked to be some frozen liquid.

Within a matter of thirty seconds, the jocks approached two girls who were standing by a locker, one with long black hair and blue streaks who was dressed in all black and another heavy set girl with brown hair, and threw the liquid in their faces. The smack was audible in the hall above the white noise of the other students.

"See you later losers!" they shouted, laughing and high-fiving each other as they walked away.

My first instinct was to run over to them and see if they were okay. Considering it was my first day at a new school in the middle of junior year though, I resisted and continued putting things in my locker. When I saw them walk by me on the way to the bathroom a few moments later, I caught the eye of the long black-haired one before they passed through the swinging door.

I sighed, glancing at my schedule, then my map of the school before beginning to make my way to my designated math room.

x.x.x.x

A few periods later, I was at my locker once again. Upon closing it, I spotted the two girls again, at the same locker as they had been earlier that day. I huffed this time, throwing my bag on my shoulder and crossing to the other side of the hall.

"Are you guys... okay?" I asked hesitantly, playing with the strap on my bag. "I mean, I saw what those neanderthals did to you two earlier…"

"Yeah we're fine," the heavy set girl with the brown hair said. "We're used to it."

"Happens at least once a week," the other girl agreed. "But I guess that's what you get for being in a glee club in a school in central Ohio."

"You guys have a glee club?"

"Yeah but if you don't want to be at the bottom of the food chain, I'd suggest staying as far away from it and its members as possible." The heavy set girl laughed, examining me with her eyes. "You're new, aren't you."

"That obvious?" I laughed.

"We haven't had a kid come in those doors in clothes like yours in quite some time." The brunette smiled, extending her hand. "Mercedes. And this is Tina." She gestured to the black-haired girl who was still standing next to her.

"Nice to meet you both." I shook both their hands, respectively, before adjusting my jacket. "I'm Kurt. And I guess loving clothes is the only explanation I have for the outfit." I laughed sheepishly as both girls grinned.

"I like it," Mercedes said. "Like I said, it's different. And that's exactly what this school needs. Although those at the top of our social pyramid may not agree."

"It's okay. I was teased for being, I-I mean for my clothes all the time at my old school too. I'm used to it," Kurt said, his heart racing at the thought of slipping up and almost telling these girls his deepest secret. _I can't tell anyone. Not anyone, not ever. They don't need to know._

"Well I can't guarantee anything here, but if you do join Glee Club, we all stick up for each other. No matter how strange or cheesy that sounds." Tina added.

"I'll definitely think about it," I assured. "Singing has always been a passion of mine. I was lead singer of our show choir at my old school."

"Well I'm sorry to say you probably won't be here." Mercedes rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "One Rachel Berry has been our lead singer since sophomore year and no matter how much we complain, our teacher won't change it."

"Well I'll still think about it-" I started to say before the warning bell echoed through the halls. "Well I've got to go. I need to find where..." I trailed off, looking at my folded schedule. "Room 235 is."

"That's right down the hall from my science class," Tina spoke up for only the second time since they first started talking. "I can walk with you if you want. Mercedes has to go all the way to the English wing so I usually walk alone anyway."

"That'd be awesome." I grinned, happy I'd already found two people who wouldn't make fun of me and actually wanted to be a friend of mine.

"See you guys later," Mercedes called from a ways down the hall. Tina and I waved,

continuing down the hall and up a staircase, stopping in front of my science room.

"So will I see you at Glee later?"

"Um," I hesitated, not sure of whether I was actually going to join yet. "I'll think about it."

"Sounds good," Tina smiled before walking the other direction to her own classroom. "See you later!"

I returned the gesture before walking slowly and hesitantly into the room right as the bell rang.

"Ah, Mr. Hummel," the man, who my schedule told me was Mr. Reisert, in the front of the room said in a bored voice. "So nice of you to join us on your first day at McKinley High."

A blush covered my cheeks as everyone in the class turned to look at the one who was causing the disturbance. A murmur ran through the room, a few pointing fingers at me before whispering once again. "I'm really sorry sir. I-I got lost trying to find the room."

"I'll buy that for today Mr. Hummel, but from now on you need to make sure you're on time to class. We have a lot we need to cover in a short amount of time before the final exam, especially since you're transferring in the middle of the year." Mr. Reisert picked up a clipboard, running his finger along the paper on it then looking around the room. "Kurt, you will be sitting in that empty seat next to Mr. Anderson over in the corner." He pointed to a lab table with an empty place next to a very bored-looking student. I nodded and shuffled over to the corner, pulling out the stool and taking a seat, placing my bag on the ground next to me.

"So today we're going to be continuing the lab we started yesterday, so if you all can grab your materials and send one of your partners up to pick up your papers so you can start as soon as possible. You have the rest of the period to work." Mr. Reisert placed a pile of papers on his desk, students from each table heading over to retrieve their respective packets.

"Oh and Mr. Hummel, I have a new lab for you. You'll obviously be working with Mr. Anderson, he can explain to you what we've been covering." I looked up at the mention of my name, nodding my understanding as I met him halfway to pick up the papers.

When I returned to my seat, the boy I only knew as "Mr. Anderson" was still sitting in the stool only this time he was reclined against the wall with his feet on the table.

"You know you might fall sitting like that," I mumbled, not particularly intending for the boy to hear it, but as soon as it was out of my mouth, his head snapped up and he looked at me.

"Excuse me?" he snapped. His voice was raspy, yet smooth at the same time. However, the first thing I noticed was his hypnotizing hazel eyes that met mine as soon as he'd looked up. His eyes were clouded though, showing absolutely no emotion and looking as if they hadn't in a long time.

Or they were just very good at hiding whatever he was feeling.

"I said," I repeated slowly, slightly louder this time. "You know you might fall sitting like that."

I prepared myself for some snarky, rude or obnoxious comment that I could sense was something that typically came out of his mouth, but all he did was scoff and shove his packet I'd retrieved for him towards my half of the table.

"I finished it yesterday. You can copy it, just don't ask me to explain it." I turned slowly to look at him as he leaned back again and shut his eyes.

"Wait, why can't you explain it?" I questioned hesitantly, not sure if I even wanted to know the answer.

He groaned, opening his eyes slightly just enough that he could glower at me. "I'm just not in the mood okay? They're all right and no, I didn't cheat or get them illegally or something."

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, feeling instantly guilty that I'd been happy to hear he hadn't cheated or stolen the answers. I'd done exactly what I'd been trying to get people to stop doing to me since I was eight. Judging me from how I looked and acted.

"Thank you..." I trailed off, looking at the top of his paper for a name. "Blaine."

This caused him to open his eyes once again as I cracked a small smile. He just looked at me and ran a hand through his head of dark brown curls, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I'm Kurt," I spoke up again, hesitantly reaching out my hand in his direction. Blaine looked at it with a disgusted expression, but I kept it where it was. After about a minute or him staring from my hand to me, he slowly and hesitantly uncrossed his arms and placed his hand in mine.

I gently shook his hand, noticing immediately how smooth it was as well. As soon as our hands stopped moving, he instantly ripped his away and crossed his arms and shutting his eyes again. I had a feeling this time that I didn't have much chance of getting him to reopen them, so I searched through my bag looking for a pencil.

Grabbing one, I turned my attention to the lab, immediately recognizing the material as something I'd learned at my previous school. I sighed, realizing that I'd probably have to talk to Mr. Reisert about learning the topic I'd most likely missed so I'd be caught up.

For the heck of it, I looked over at Blaine's paper, scanning through his answers and pleasantly surprised to find that they were all right. Turning to look at Blaine, I took in his outward appearance: black V-neck t-shirt, ripped, dark wash skinny jeans and a pair of ratty looking black high top sneakers. His crossed arms showed off his impressive, but not obnoxious muscles and his head of dark brown, curly hair was perfectly messy.

I looked back down at my lab, my mind thinking about everything but physics. If everything included one Blaine Anderson.

I couldn't say I wasn't fascinated by the mysterious boy. I could already tell he was hiding so many things and that he didn't open up to many. I was determined though, to do whatever it took to get to know him better. I also knew how difficult that was going to be.

But I always did like a challenge.


	3. Chapter 2

"Class dismissed." Upon the sound of these words, the majority of the class was up and out of their seats, making their way to the door. I began putting my things back into my bag, paying no attention to Blaine other than a tap on the shoulder to wake him up.

He awakened with a jolt, squinting as he regains his bearings.

"Just thought you'd like to know class was over," I told him. "It sounds like words from a teacher you'd actually like to hear."

I got no more of a response than a look in my direction that showed no emotion before I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the room.

I met Tina directly outside the room, who had on a very shocked expression.

"Hey, how was science?"

"Were you just talking to _Blaine Anderson_?" she asked, ignoring my question.

"Well hello to you too."

"Don't avoid the question."

"You avoided mine."

"Because you weren't talking about _Blaine Anderson_."

"Why is he such a big deal? Yes, I was talking to Blaine. He's my lab partner and I spoke to him a little before he fell asleep for most of the class."

"You're new, so you don't understand. Blaine Anderson is the school's resident bad boy, for lack of a better term, but he's also so much more than that. He rarely speaks to anyone and every girl in the school fawns all over him. I have a feeling he doesn't play for their team though…"

For a reason unknown to Tina but very much so known to me, my heart started beating faster when Tina said she thought Blaine was gay. _What if she finds out that I'm gay before I want to tell everyone?_ "H-How do you know that?"

"He's never dated a girl. Any of them. Do you know how many pathetic girls throw themselves at him? You'd think he'd humor one of them at some point. But that's not even the reason. I just… I guess I have a sixth sense for this kind of thing. I don't know."

My heart rate stayed at its rapid pace as I took a deep breath and looked around, looking for any excuse to get away from Tina. "Um, you know, I'm sorry Tina but I just realized I'm not going to make it to my next class unless I head over now, so I'll c-catch up with you guys later okay?"

Tina gave me a bewildered look, but I promptly ignored it as I raced off, gripping onto my bag like it was my life preserver. As soon as I got far enough away, I slowed to a walk, glancing at my schedule to see where it was I was actually supposed to be. Math. A sigh of relief rushed through me. I'd always been a year ahead in math and although it was a little more difficult this year, it was the one thing I could count on in my life. It'd always have one answer, one right answer and a solid way to get there. It was comforting that no matter where I moved to, it'd still be the same.

I had just found the classroom as the bell rang once again, walking to the teacher's desk, this time one that was much less strict and not upset that I was, as Mr. Reisert had said, disrupting class. She was a young woman, no older than her mid-twenties, and she seemed to be one of those teachers that all the guys had a crush on. I noticed that last part quite soon after taking a seat next to an empty desk in the back of the room once again.

"All right everyone, let's take out the homework from last night and I'll put the answers up on the board so you can check them and then we can go over any questions you have." The teacher, who had introduced me to herself as Miss Patrick, looked out to the sea of students for any signs of them settling down. As she started making her rounds with a grade book, the door burst open and none other than Blaine Anderson came barreling in the door, where what could be interpreted as a charming smile.

"Sorry I'm late Miss P. Locker wouldn't open again." He flashed another smile her way before walking back to where I was sitting. I prepared for whatever he might say about us being in the same class again when he pulled out the chair and sat down next to me.

"W-Wait," I stuttered, looking at him as he stared back without a moment's hesitation. "This… You sit there?" I gestured to the seat, as he looked down at the chair.

"It appears that way, doesn't it?"

I was about to reply to his snarky remark when Miss Patrick appeared next to us, pencil poised and grade book in hand. "Blaine, do you have the homework?"

I watched him take out a folder and flip through a few papers before closing it and turning toward our teacher.

"I'm sorry Miss P, I don't know where I placed the sheet. But I did it this time." He smiled another wide smile, revealing a set of slightly yellow, yet still brilliantly dazzling teeth. I swore I saw Miss Patrick's face turn slightly red as she turned away, suddenly very interested in what was out the window, but turned back seconds later, looking more composed.

"This is your last warning Blaine. Next time this happens, you'll be getting a zero. Got it?"

Blaine nodded, the smile still on his face as Miss Patrick ran a hand through her hair before quickly moving on to the next student.

I turned to Blaine in awe. "You know it's against the law for a student to date a teacher and vice versa right?"

"I don't want to date her. Now her, I'm not so sure. I've been on my _last warning_ for three months now and nothing's ever happened, so you could say I'm just good at getting what I want."

"So I've heard." I was as shocked at what had just come out of my mouth as Blaine seemed to be as I took in his bewildered expression.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively. I felt a nervous twinge in the pit of my stomach as his dark eyes bore into the side of my head as I suddenly became very interested in my virtually empty folder.

"I've… heard things. Is all." I said in a quieter voice, looking up at the board where Miss Patrick was now asking if anyone had any questions. When no one raised their hand, she picked up one of the markers that was lying in the tray along the board and began writing formulas down.

"Great. Just what I need. The new kid saying he's already heard things about me." Blaine grumbled, pulling out a sheet of paper and flipping it over before jotting down the formulas from the board.

"Oh, this isn't your sleeping class?"

Blaine glared at me for a quick second before returning to the sheet, a scowl escaping his lips.

The rest of the class was surprisingly quiet. I had anticipated the students practically walking all over Miss Patrick because of how young she was, but once she got going, everyone seemed to pay attention. Even Blaine, who didn't say another word to me the rest of the class.

When the bell rang, I finished jotting down the homework and began shoving my books in my back so I wouldn't be late to my next class. I was standing up and about to head out the door when I heard Blaine say something in an annoyed voice.

"What did they tell you." It was phrased as a statement more than a question, but I knew his intent. I turned around slowly to look at him staring intensely at me again.

"Nothing, I just… I'm sorry for saying that. It was stupid and rude. I shouldn't have." I stood for a few seconds, waiting to see if Blaine was going to say anything in reply, but he said nothing. I took this as a cue to leave and I walked out of the room.

x.x.x.x

My last three classes were uneventful, as Blaine wasn't in any of them and the other kids wanted nothing to do with the new kid. I sat mostly by myself in empty seats in the back of the room and took notes, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to myself.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, I bolted from my seat and out the door, wanting to get out of the building as soon as possible. I managed to fight my way through the crowds and get to my locker in a timely fashion. What I didn't expect though, was to find Blaine standing at one a couple lockers down from mine.

"What are you doing here?" I asked stupidly once I had retrieved all the books I'd need to take home. I realized too late that I recalled being told I'd been added to a homeroom from the beginning of the alphabet because that was the only homeroom that had an empty locker near the actual room. And Blaine Anderson happened to be near the beginning of the alphabet.

"Standing at my locker?" he answered, slamming it shut and causing me to flinch. "What else did it look like I was doing? You didn't think I was stealing anything were you? Did someone tell you that?" He blew a bubble with his gum and popped it loudly as he began walking in the other direction. I jogged to catch up.

"Look, I said I was sorry. I know what it feels like to have people talking about you behind your back." I said this hoping to reconcile any hurt feelings, not to have him question me as soon as it came out of my mouth.

"What would they say about you? You just moved here."

"I mean in my old school. But it's not a big deal."

Blaine looked at me, his hazel eyes dark and filled with some kind of emotion that I couldn't place. We walked in an awkward silence the rest of the way through the building until we reached the exit. It was opened and we stepped out into the frigid air.

I turned to say goodbye to Blaine, but he was already off in the opposite direction, his hands shoved in his leather jacket pockets. I almost shouted, but figured he was one who didn't like attention drawn to himself.

I walked to my car, turning on the heat at full blast as soon as I had it running. As I drove away, I began thinking about Blaine. About what I knew of him. About why he was how he was. About what had caused him to be like that.

So many questions and not nearly enough answers.

x.x.x.x

"So how was your first day?" my father Burt asked once I had gotten settled in the living room. His hands were still covered in dirt and grime from whatever cars he was working with in our shop. He had been coming here before we'd moved to ensure that his business would be up and running by the time we finally moved in so he would be able to start working right away.

"Just like any other. Uneventful." I decided not to tell him about Blaine, not because I had anything to hide with him, but if he found out Blaine's reputation, he would have a bird.

"How were the classes? Were the teachers cooperative about getting you the work you need?"

"Some more than others, but yeah," I answered, thinking immediately of Mr. Reisert. "It's not like I hadn't learned anything before, they just had to get me the work I've missed while we were moving."

"Well, I'm glad it went well for you." Burt stood up, wiping his greasy hands on his ratty shirt. "You have a lot of homework or do you think you can help me in the shop for a bit? I need someone to help me sort out some paperwork while I work on this car that just came in."

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second." I pick up my bag and began my walk away as my dad walked out the door. Once I got to my room, I pulled off my shirt to change into clothes suitable for the shop when I saw the glimpse of a car that was pulling into the shop's parking lot, I thought nothing of it until I saw the man who stepped out of it.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched Blaine slam the door shut on what looked to be an old and run down truck before spinning his keys on his finger as he sauntered into the shop's office. Where I was supposed to be. I quickly changed into another pair of jeans and after adjusting my shirt, ran to the door, slammed it behind me and quickly got to Hummel Tires and Lube down the road in record time.

When I burst into the office through the garage, dodging cars and tools my dad had left lying around, Burt and Blaine looked at me. I saw surprise evident in Blaine's eyes, my dad looking happy to see me.

"Kurt, good you can help Mr. Anderson here with the paperwork aspects while I go look at his truck." Burt walked out of the office soon after finishing his sentence, leaving Blaine and I in an awkward silence in an even more awkwardly small office.

"I…" Blaine started in a gravelly voice. I could have sworn I saw him blush as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Well then I'm not sure how much you're going to like hearing that I own the place too," I said and Blaine's eyes shot up to look at me.

"_You_ own this place?"

"Well my dad does. I guess I could be considered part owner." I watched as Blaine ran both hands through his untamed curls, an exasperated expression on his face. "You know, if you want to just go tell my dad you don't want him to fix the car, I'm sure I can find you a place nearby that can do the work instead."

Blaine looked up at me again. "Why wouldn't I want your dad to work on my car?"

"Because you don't like me?" I took a stab at putting what I'd been feeling all day into words. Blaine looked at me, his expression softening for a second before his stone cold look took over again.

"I-I never said… I mean I don't… I mean…" he fumbled over his words for a second before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Just… Just forget it. I'll come back to get the paperwork done like tomorrow or something. I need to go." He stalked out the door, leaving me standing there speechless and confused.

x.x.x.x

"Okay everyone, partner up and grab one basketball per pair." Everyone groaned as they shuffled off. I looked around as my gym coach shouted again in response to the complaints. "It's not my fault our budget doesn't invest in more equipment so until that happens, you have to share. You'll all live, believe me."

Not only did I despise gym class because I didn't like sports, I also wasn't good at them and no one ever wanted to be partners with me or want me on their team at my old school because of it. Add on the fact that I was the new kid and it was my second day at this school, I was counting on just standing in the corner and hoping to escape being noticed for the duration of class.

No sooner was I claiming my corner did Blaine burst into the gymnasium much like he had in every other class I'd had with him.

"So nice of you to join us Mr. Anderson," my gym coach shouted over the bouncing of the balls echoing off every surface in the room. "Find a partner, we're playing basketball today."

I could see Blaine roll his eyes from here as he stood still for a moment, letting his eyes do what seemed like search the room for anyone worthy of playing with him. I tried to disappear into the corner, but obviously did a poor job because when he looked in my direction, he began his confident strut over. A few girls stopped what they were doing to obviously gawk at him, but he either didn't notice it or acted like he didn't see them until he was at my side.

"I'm not planning on playing," I told him before he could get a word in edgewise. "I don't care what you do but I don't play basketball. Or any other sport for that matter."

"Well that's a shame. Can you at least pretend you're my partner because I feel it would be bad if I got another zero for not participating. Or just not showing up."

"You come across as someone who wouldn't care about that kind of thing," I muttered as I ventured slowly out of my corner, following Blaine to a bin full of airless basketballs. I watched him test a few out before picking one that wasn't completely flat. He glared at me as he walked over to a hoop that wasn't occupied by another group.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You sleep through class. You don't pay attention. You don't do the homework. You charm the teachers out of having to do said homework with your smile—"

"I do now? Is that smile a nice smile?" I hear him ask me and I become paralyzed with fear from the slip up. I blushed and tried to cover my face when I answer.

"Why don't you ask one of the girls that always fawn all over you whenever you walk by?"

"I sense some kind of jealousy going on here," Blaine said, smirking as he shot the ball and watched it land in the basket without even hitting the backboard. My heart rate sped up even more as I try to formulate a suitable response to get me out of the situation.

"Why in the world would I be jealous?" was my intelligent and well thought-out retort.

"Just a feeling I have." Blaine didn't even look at me as he said this and went back to shooting, performing all these complicated motions and shots I couldn't even wrap my head around doing. I slowly inched my way to the nearby wall and slid down so I was sitting, watching the scene around me. I stayed like this until we were told we could go change, to which I sprinted to the locker room and as far away from Blaine as I could.

_He knows_, I thought as I rid myself of the disgusting gym clothes in favor of my regular ones. _He knows my secret._ I had no idea what he was planning on doing with that information, but all I knew is that people knew him at this school. Probably would listen to what he had to say. He also knew my dad, who would probably listen to what he had to say if he started talking to him as well. Especially if he was talking about me.

Not only that, he also thought I liked him. I didn't know my feelings towards this boy who still posed more and more questions every time he opened his mouth. I just knew I didn't want to get too attached to anything or anyone because if I did, said person or people would eventually find out my secret and that's something I didn't want. But I had been careless enough to say just the wrong thing at the wrong moment and now Blaine had the power. The control.

Blaine Anderson had the power to ruin my life with a simple sentence and nothing had ever scared me more.


	4. Chapter 3

As soon as the final bell rang on my second day at McKinley, I ran to my locker and made my way to the choir room that Mercedes and Tina had shown me earlier today. I had managed to push the gym class incident out of my mind for long enough to panic for my "audition" for Glee Club. When I'd told Mercedes and Tina that I was going to come to Glee, they'd both squealed loud enough for half the hallway to look at us. They'd told me I didn't need to sing anything, but it would be nice for everyone to know what kind of voice I had and it was almost a tradition to do this.

I met up with the girls outside the room where it appeared they'd been waiting for me. Both grinned from ear and ear and I showed a nervous smile.

"Are you ready?" Tina asked excitedly.

"To puke? Definitely." I reached for the strap of my bag and began playing with it, a nervous habit of mine.

"You'll do amazing, we know it. You just can't freak out or something. Rachel can smell fear on people and will use that to keep you from stealing her spot as lead vocalist." Mercedes grinned.

"Who said I was going to even be good? I probably will get booed out of the room for sucking."

"First off, we don't boo people," Tina said, taking my arm and pulling me the few steps into the room where a few other members were already sitting and chatting amongst themselves. "Second, we both _know_ you're going to be great."

"I appreciate the encouragement, but I need to sit down before I literally pass out or get sick on your clothing." I took a deep breath and took small steps until they settled me into a chair next to the ones they apparently typically occupied. While they went off and talked to other members of the group, I sat and tried to relax. I had no idea why I was so nervous this particular time. I'd sung in front of people more times than I could count. I didn't see why this was any different, but it didn't stop me from panicking.

I must have zoned out because before I knew it, a man who looked vaguely familiar to me appeared in the doorway, carrying a bag and a cup of coffee. He set both down on the piano in the front of the room and turned towards the group with a grin on his face.

"Okay guys, before we continue our preparations for Regionals, we have a new member who's going to sing for us." He turned to look at me and I felt every other pair of eyes do the same. "Kurt, you ready?"

I thought I nodded, but I couldn't be sure because my heart had picked up speed and I tried my hardest to not have it beat out of my chest. I walked to the front of the room by the piano as a man sat on the bench. I nodded to him and he began to play the opening chords of the song I'd chosen. It had taken me forever to choose a song, but I'd finally settled on one of my favorites.

"_I asked her to stay but she wouldn't listen_

_She left before I had the chance to say_

_The words that would mend the things that were broken_

_But now it's far too late, she's gone away"_

My nerves began to dissipate as I saw the members of New Directions begin to smile as I finished the first verse. Their looks that held more reassurance than ridicule caused me to smile slightly as the song continued.

"_Every night you cry yourself to sleep_

_Thinking, "Why does this happen to me?"_

_Why does every moment have to be so hard?_

_Hard to believe that_

_It's not over tonight_

_Just give me one more chance to make it right_

_I may not make it through the night_

_I won't go home without you"_

I looked at Mercedes and Tina, who gave me huge grins and a thumbs up, and then allowed a full smile to spread onto my face. I powered through the second verse and chorus and as I began the bridge, the other members of the group began singing softly and harmonizing with me.

"_Of all the things I felt but never really shown_

_Perhaps the worst is that I ever let you go_

_I should not ever let you go, oh oh oh"_

I worked my way to Tina and Mercedes and began dancing with them as I finished off the song. After the last note was played, the group burst into applause. The teacher, who I remember the girls had told me was named Mr. Schuester, walked back to the front of the room.

"Kurt, that was amazing!" he exclaimed, patting me on the shoulders. He paused as the others clapped before speaking again. "Now guys, let's start practicing. There's going to be some changes now that we have a new member!" I heard one girl, a short brunette, begin to complain, but Mr. Schuester quickly quieted her.

"Now, let's start with our group number…" Mr. Schue began and I took my seat back with my friends, smiling more than I had since we'd moved here.

**x.x.x.x**

As I walked out of the choir room with Tina and Mercedes at my side, I was feeling on top of the world. The girls had introduced me to everyone and the group actually seemed to be filled with nice people who would want to be associated with me. This new feeling was astounding and liberating, making me feel as light as air.

All of that went out the window when I saw Blaine leaning against a set of lockers right outside the room. As soon as he spotted me, he smirked and sauntered up to us in that confident way of his.

"You ready to go Kurt?" he asked, the smirk never leaving his face.

I could hear both Tina and Mercedes gasp behind me as I gave the boy a confused look. "Go where?"

"Your dad's shop?" he said, phrasing it like a question. "My car is still a disaster and I kind of want it fixed."

"Oh… uh yeah," I stuttered, turning to look at the girls, who were huddled together and whispering. "I'll be right there." I didn't even wait for a response from Blaine, instead I pulled the two girls around the corner so Blaine couldn't see or hear us.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were friends with Blaine?" Mercedes immediately blurted, Tina nodding beside her.

"I'm not friends with him! I just have to see him a million times a day and that wasn't enough, so he had to come to my dad's stupid car repair shop." The sentence came out in a rush and I thought that they hadn't understood me because they were surprisingly quiet for a minute.

"Hey Kurt, we need to get a move on here," I heard Blaine's voice shout from around the corner. I looked to Mercedes and Tina with a look that screamed, _don't say a word_, and they shockingly did just that. I rounded the corner and headed hastily towards the door, Blaine trailing behind me.

"Whoa there, slow down. When I said to get a move on, I didn't mean run." I turned to look at Blaine and rolled my eyes as he continued his steady walking pace behind me. "If I wanted to run, I'd probably try harder in gym class."

"Well, it looked like you were having some fun in gym today," I muttered as I approached my Navigator. I noticed that the truck that had been at the shop yesterday, Blaine's truck, was parked only a few spots over in the lot.

"Someone's in a mood," Blaine said as I got into my car. "Cheerful one minute and as soon as you see me, angry."

I rolled my eyes again, ignoring him as I shut the door and immediately started the car, blasting the heat as high as it would go. I pulled out of the spot and reluctantly waited for Blaine to follow in suit, although I assumed he knew where he was going. After a couple failed attempts to start the car, I realized why he'd brought it to the shop in the first place as we cruised down the street, pulling into the lot about ten minutes later.

"I'm just gonna put this in our garage," I told Blaine through our rolled-down windows. "If there's space, you can pull that into that garage." I pointed to the shop, so as not to confuse him as to which one I meant. He nodded and pulled around front. I saw the car disappear as I pulled into our personal garage, so I assumed he had found a spot.

Peeling off my gloves and jacket, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief as a rush of warm air hit me when I entered the house. My dad was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed he was already in the shop. I ran upstairs, throwing down my bag and changing into my work clothes before heading down the stairs and making the quick run to the office in the back of the garage.

"Hmm," I heard my dad muse as I watched him circle Blaine's car from the small work room. At closer inspection, I noticed several dents in the truck's sides and paint chipped in multiple spots. "Between all this and the amount of engine trouble you have, this isn't going to be cheap work kid."

I heard Blaine sigh and rub his hands through his dark hair. "That's just fantastic." There was more silence and I saw Blaine circle the truck himself as Burt just stood there, a sad look on his face. "Thanks for your advice; I'll just get going then."

"Wait," Burt immediately spoke up. Blaine stopped in his tracks. "Business has been great since we moved here. I might be able to do this pro bono if you're in a tight situation."

I was surprised by my dad's gesture to this person who barely knew, but not nearly as surprised as Blaine. His jaw had dropped and he stood there staring at the older man. "You can't be serious."

"Your truck will become virtually unusable very soon if we don't fix the engine." Burt stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I can't start today but if you come back same time tomorrow, we can get started."

"Wow, just…" Blaine was still speechless as Burt stopped speaking. "This is just…amazing. Thank you so much."

"No problem. I know how hard it'd be for a kid your age to pay for this. If your family is going through a rough time or something, I don't mind helping you out."

Blaine smiled slightly before noticing me eavesdropping from the office. I instantly blushed and ducked in the door, hurrying to the desk and fumbling with some of the papers on it. No more than five seconds later, Blaine's head appeared in the door, the smirk from before back on his face.

"I _so_ saw you checking me out back there," he said, the confident tone evident in his voice. My blush deepened.

"I was definitely not checking you out," I stated and even though that was the truth, my voice cracked just slightly, giving Blaine all the reassurance he felt he needed.

"You don't have to pretend Hummel. I already know that song you sang in that pathetic little glee club was about me and how much you're in love with me anyway."

"What, do you _wish_ it was about you?" I asked, anger burning up the embarrassment I'd been feeling a few moments ago. I didn't even ask why he had been listening to me in the first place. "Because, as much as you want it to be true, it's definitely not."

I saw a surprised look flash across Blaine's face, probably at the fact that I'd stood up to him, before it was taken over with a stone cold and emotionless one. "What in the world would make you think that?"

"Um, because you're always talking about how much I _must_ be in love with you," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "I think you're just hiding your own feelings here and blaming them on me."

That one left Blaine speechless for long enough for me to hear my dad yelling from the garage. "Hey Kurt, could you come and help me out over here?"

"Yeah sure Dad, hold on," I yelled back, turning to look at Blaine once again. "I've got to go. The door's that way." I pointed to the large, automatic door that opened up into the parking lot. One last look at Blaine's still shocked face and I walked off, feeling much better than I had five minutes ago.

**x.x.x.x**

"All right class, take out your homework and swap it with your partner. I will be coming around with an answer key so you can grade each other's work and I can see if you've actually done it." Mr. Reisert started with the front left side of the room and began circulating as the shuffling of papers and the mumbling of students talking filled the room.

I reached for my bag and pulled out my folder that held my homework. I slid it in front of Blaine as he pulled out his own crumpled copy of the sheet. He practically threw it at me with a flick of his wrist and, as Mr. Reisert approached, pretended he was looking at my sheet.

"Okay, both you boys have it," the teacher mumbled and pulled two sheets from the pile in his arms. "Here are the answer keys and here are…" He trailed off; pulling two decent sized packets from the pile underneath the one he had pulled the answer keys from. "This is the next lab. Look it over when you're done and I will explain it in a few minutes."

I began flipping through the packet as I heard Blaine groan and mumble incoherent curses under his breath. I hadn't spoken to him since the incident at the shop a few days ago and had no intention of doing so, considering he didn't seem to want to speak to me either.

"Okay everyone, stop the talking or the packet will double in size." Mr. Reisert immediately shut the class up with that one. "This is a lab, but luckily for you all, it's a lab you will be completing outside of school." There was a round of cheering and Mr. Reisert sat at his desk, a bored expression on his face as he waited for the class to quiet down.

"You're just wasting your own time that you could be using to work on this," he said simply. "This is also a partner lab. You will all be working with your lab partner on this and, since it's a outside-of-class lab, it will require the two of you getting together, you guessed it, outside of class to work on it." This was met by a collection of groans and cheers, some people happy about this idea and some clearly not. Blaine and I both must have looked like we fit in the latter category.

"You have the rest of this class period to read the lab over and begin planning with your partner when you're going to meet up to work on it. If you have any dire questions, I'll be at my desk." He stopped talking and the white noise of students talking filled the room again. I sighed and looked down at the large packet, flipping through it to get an idea of what the project was about.

I glanced over at Blaine every couple minutes to see if he had any intention of talking to me about the project we were supposedly stuck working on together. He had his head in his arms on the desk. I couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. I pulled out my math homework and worked through the problems until the bell rang, at which Blaine's head shot up.

"Meet me outside of the choir room after your stupid little rehearsal today." I just looked at him, surprised at his words, as he grabbed his ratty bag and the packet, shoving the packet haphazardly into the bag before jumping off the stool and walking briskly out of the room.

I put my own things neatly back in my folder, slipping it into my bag. I couldn't help but wonder about why he wanted to meet me later. My brain kept telling me that it was just to work on the project, but the other part of me knew he hadn't been paying attention throughout the whole class, or so it had seemed that way.

I couldn't explain to myself why I wanted the meeting to not be about the project. I knew I didn't like him, I'd convinced myself of that thoroughly, but there was still that little feeling in my stomach whenever I saw him. The desire to smile, even just slightly, whenever I saw him walk into class. I couldn't explain my emotions to myself and I sure didn't know anything about his. He was the most complex person I'd ever met and did things to me that I could never begin to explain.

He scared me and excited me at the same time. And, as I walked out of the room to my next class, I couldn't help but be terrified at the thought that I might be falling for one Blaine Anderson.


	5. Chapter 4

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us for coffee, Kurt?" Mercedes asked as we walked out of the choir room later that afternoon, Tina on my other side.

"No, I-I'm good," I stuttered, looking around for any signs of Blaine. "Yeah, uh, my dad needs help in the shop today and he's relying on me. Tomorrow?"

The girls nodded and smiled, each giving me a hug before heading out the door. They hadn't been gone for more than thirty seconds when Blaine appeared next to me.

"Let's go," he said and I jumped at the voice.

"You scared me." I adjusted the strap of my bag and followed Blaine out the door.

"Sorry," he mumbled. We went to our parked cars, which happened to be near each other again. Blaine leaned up against his, looking at me expectantly.

"We can go to my house or yours. Or the library, but they're not too fond of me there." He pulled out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket, lighting it and sticking it in his mouth.

I stared at him for a moment as he took a deep breath in, removing the cigarette from his mouth and letting a stream of smoke escape his lips. "What did you tell my dad?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were supposed to be at the shop today."

He mumbled a few curses and pulled out his phone, punching in a number. He was silent for a few seconds. "Hey, Mr. Hummel? Yeah, it's Blaine." A few more seconds of silence. "Yeah, about the truck… yeah… I actually have a big project due that I need to work on today, so I was wondering if I could come down tomorrow instead?"

I was ready to pounce on Blaine for the phone if he mentioned my name. I'd told my dad that I was going to coffee with some friends, which was true because they were going to a local coffee shop, I just wasn't going with them. I had a feeling that if he knew about Blaine and our "friendship", for lack of a better word, he wouldn't be so happy.

"Yeah, that's great. Thank you so much. See you tomorrow. Bye." He hung up the phone and looked at me. "There. Problem solved."

"We can go to your house," I blurted out. "If that's okay. Since we obviously can't go to mine anymore."

Blaine looked at me as though I had three heads for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, I guess." He got into his truck, cigarette still in hand. "Follow me."

I simply nodded, getting into my own car and starting it up. We pulled out and I followed him for no more than a mile until we pulled into a neighborhood that was known for being one of the wealthiest in Lima.

After turning down a few streets, we pulled into a long driveway with a large white house at the end of it. I followed Blaine's lead, parking towards the top of the driveway behind Blaine's car and next to an old, beat up car that I couldn't identify.

I was about to ask who the owner of the mustang was, not knowing anything about Blaine's personal life, much less his family life, but decided against it. I had already witnessed in science what his reaction was when someone mentioned his personal business, or rumors of it, and I had no intention of going back down that road.

The smell that hit me once I'd followed Blaine into the house through the garage door, which housed another car, this one a truck that looked to be in even worse condition than Blaine's, was a mixture of so many things, most of which I couldn't place. The ones that immediately triggered a reaction were the alcohol and tobacco, mixed with that air freshener that smelled strongly of lemons. I walked hesitantly after Blaine as he followed a hallway out of the small room we'd entered, his boots clicking on the tile floor.

"Cooper!" he yelled in an aggressive manner as he turned a corner into a room that had a ratty-looking carpet lining the floor from wall to wall.

"_Blaine_!" the man, supposedly named Cooper, slurred and I immediately knew where the alcohol smell was coming from. I entered the room, noticing how dark it was in an attempt to take in the man lying on the couch. He had jet black hair that was messy and looked greasy. He donned a tight, white tank top and black boxers, a pair of white socks on his feet, making the attire look even stranger than it already did. "How are you man?"

"What did I say about spending the day on the couch? How do you even get money for all the crap you put into your system?" Blaine gestured to the beer bottle that was in the man's left hand and the cigarette that was in his other, lit and burning.

"Pssh." The man waved the cigarette hand at the Blaine in a manner that suggested he was brushing off the previous comment. "I've got _loads_ of money and I'm _fine_! You do all the same stuff, don't you be a hyp… a hyp—" He trailed off, a glazed-over look in his eyes. I looked at Blaine, who was staring at the older man in disgust.

"You have no right to criticized what I do with my life." Blaine walked away as Cooper snapped out of his daze.

"Oh, but I _do_," Cooper said, his words still slurring together and his voice wavering as he sat up, putting both hands to his head. "Oh _man_, that didn't feel good."

"Maybe if you laid off the booze, smoking and whatever else it is that you use every once in a while, you wouldn't feel like crap all the time and you'd actually, oh I don't know, _go get a job_."

"Oh, speaking of that!" Cooper exclaimed, immediately letting out a yelp as Blaine ripped back the curtains, exposing the bright light of the winter sun. "Oww, what was that?"

"Letting the light in here. Maybe the fact that this place looks like a dungeon is the reason you have no motivation to _get out_."

"_Fine_. If you're going to be that way, then you can find your own drugs," Cooper grumbled, taking a large drink from the beer bottle and finishing off the rest of the cigarette. He flicked the butt into the overflowing ashtray on the table next to him, standing up slowly and heading toward the kitchen. After grabbing another beer, he lit another cigarette and settled back on the couch.

"I can get my own drugs, I don't need you to get any for me." Blaine stalked off, grabbing a beer bottle for himself from the same refrigerator from which Cooper had gotten his. He turned, acknowledging me for the first time since we left school. "You want anything?"

Not trusting my voice to not betray me, I shook my head, following him down a different hallway and up a flight of stairs. He cracked open the bottle with a _pop_ and flicked the cap over his shoulder, narrowly missing my head. I heard him mumble an insincere apology, continuing up the stairs and I continued to follow.

As Blaine led me to his bedroom, I began to realize more and more that the outside of the house and the inside of the house very well could have been two completely separate places. The exterior looked extremely proper and put-together, landscape trimmed to perfection and perfectly painted. The interior, on the other hand, reeked of various kinds of smoke and alcohol. There were burn marks where I assumed cigarettes had been discarded over the years and the rugs looked dirty, like they'd been walked on for centuries.

We approached a closed door and Blaine reached for the knob, turning it partially until it stopped rotating. He repeated the action a couple of times, the same result occurring each time. All of a sudden, he kicked it hard and it budged a tad bit. Two more kicks and a turn of the knob caused it opened without hesitation.

Fear building inside me that hadn't been there prior, I refrained from following Blaine into his room. It took only ten seconds before he returned to the doorway.

"You coming or what?" he asked, the same aggressive tone in his voice that had been there before when he'd spoken to Cooper. I managed a small nod and followed him into a plain room. The rug was missing and it looked as though it had once been there, but it had been ripped out by someone who shouldn't have been ripping out a rug. There was a mattress in the corner and a mangled blanket in a heap on top of it.

"It's so…" I trailed off, not knowing how to finish my sentence. Blaine was glaring at me as he settled down on the ground, leaning against a white wall and placing his bag and beer next to him.

"It's what?"

"It's so different from the outside," I stated, taking a seat on the empty side of him. He moved a little farther away, just enough to put some more space between us. A pang of hurt hit me in the gut and I looked away.

"So you want to do this or not? My mom might be home in an hour and I'd like you out by then." A look of embarrassment, hurt and offense crossed my face as he said this and Blaine looked at me, shrugging.

"So do you have the assignment?" I asked, not bothering to comment on what he'd just said. He nodded, pulling out the papers from his ripped folder. I pulled out identical sheets and read over the instructions quick to refresh my memory.

"Do we really have to do this?" Blaine grumbled. I looked over and watched him take a swig from his bottle. "Can't we just say we'll do it "together", do it on our own and you can get out of here?"

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool that was quickly escaping me due to Blaine's obnoxious attitude. "No, we can't. I don't want to be stuck doing this by myself when we could get it done in half the time if you'd stop being—"

"If I'd stop being what?" he growled

I was struck speechless. I had never heard someone sound so genuinely angry at a person and while this should have triggered some kind of guilt or regret in me, it only fueled the anger I had been trying to push aside.

"If you stopped being _yourself_," I retorted. "You are just so _angry_ all the time and I don't know how much longer I can stand to be around you!"

"Well who's keeping you here?" Blaine shouted. "Because I'm certainly not!"

"You're just too afraid to admit that you may have feelings for me!" I yelled back, feeling slightly scared when Blaine stood up, but stayed where he was.

"You know _nothing_ about me," Blaine spoke, an icy tone to his voice.

"I know that you've had a hard life, but you repress all of your emotions and take it out on people who may actually care about your well-being."

"No one cares about me," Blaine stated nonchalantly. "No one ever has and no one ever will. And it sure doesn't bother me. I don't need anyone's help or concern. I'm fine on my own."

"_Yes you do_, Blaine," I said, my voice slightly less angry as I took a hesitant step towards the curly haired boy. "Drugs and alcohol aren't going to help you deal with the problems you obviously have going on here at home."

"I don't have any problems!" Blaine shouted, the anger immediately returning to his voice. He took two steps closer to me and I could feel tears building in my eyes from the amount of fear I was feeling. "So what, my brother's a loser and my parents aren't here most of the time. So what, my parents don't care about either of us and care more about where their next drink is going to come from? So what, if our house looks horrible because we couldn't care less? Who cares? Because I know none of us do, so I don't know why you do."

"Because…" I trailed off, not knowing how to go about saying what I wanted to say, deciding to just come out with it. "Because I care about you, Blaine. You intrigue me and I want to get to know you. I want to know why you are who you are and why you've built these walls up to block out people like me, people who want to help you."

Blaine stood there, a stone cold expression on his rough and rigid features, for an indeterminable amount of time. I stepped forward again, closing the distance between us. I put my hand on Blaine's shoulder slowly, feeling him flinch and try to shrug the hand away, but I keep a gentle, but firm grip.

"I know you don't believe me, but it's true," I stated, watching as Blaine squeezed his eyes shut and, before I could comprehend what was happening, he moved in quick and planted his lips on mine.

My eyes shot open from surprise, finding Blaine's eyes still squeezed shut and I could have sworn I saw liquid on his lashes. I closed my eyes, letting Blaine's lips move in perfect synchronization with mine. I could taste the strong sensation of alcohol and the faint combination of nicotine, coffee and peppermint on Blaine's tongue as he ran it over my lips, pushing through them soon after.

Moments later, he abruptly pulled away, his eyes still squeezed shut. I ached for the taste of Blaine on my lips again, but his eyes remained shut as he back away until he hit the wall.

"Leave," he growled, his hands lacing through curly hair and tugging on it hard, the bulging of the muscles in his arm proof of the action.

"Wait, Blaine—"

"_Leave. Now_," he growled again, this time twice as intimidating as his voice rose to a higher volume. He stood up, turned and punched the wall, breaking through the plaster and exposing the wooden framework. He immediately returned his hand to his hair and slid down the wall to the ground.

I grabbed my things and left the room, taking the stairs two at a time as I heard another loud crash that I could only assume was Blaine punching his wall again. I also heard Cooper in the living room talking, to whom or what I didn't know. His voice was even sloppier than before, if that was possible, and I retraced my steps back down the hall and into the room that led to the garage.

I escaped out the door without drawing any attention to myself and, as I entered the garage that smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, let out a breath that I hadn't even known I'd been holding.


	6. Chapter 5

_Blaine?_

_Blaine?_

_Blaine? We at least need to do this project._

_BLAINE?_

_At least answer me and tell me that you don't wanna talk._

…_Please Blaine?_

After the sixth text in one hour, I threw my phone across the room. It hit the wall and then my carpeted floor with not so much as a scratch.

I couldn't figure out what to do. I hadn't seen Blaine in school in over a week and I had been sending him texts and emails multiple times an hour every day since the incident at his house. I grabbed a pillow and plopped down with my face in it, groaning as loud as I could.

"Kurt?" I heard my father's voice say hesitantly from the other side of my closed bedroom door.

"Go away," I whined in the stereotypical teenage fashion, but, like any other persistent parent, he tried again.

"That ain't gonna work on me," Burt said. "Open the door."

I stayed quiet for a while, hoping that if I didn't say anything, he'd leave. He didn't and eventually I lifted my face away from the pillow. "It's open."

Returning my face to the pillow, I heard the door open and the floor creak under my father's steps.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked in his usual _I won't force you but I know you want to talk_ way. I knew I had no choice but to spill the whole story.

I told him everything that had happened to me since we moved, starting with my first encounter with Tina and Mercedes, who he had met twice already, and leading right up to that very moment. Burt sat and listened intently, nodding every couple minutes. By the end, I was in tears and I stopped mid-sentence, burying my face in my pillow again.

It was silent for a couple minutes after that. I could feel my dad's hand on my shoulder, an effort to try to comfort me that had always been enough when I was younger.

"I can't say I didn't see this coming," he finally admitted.

My head shot up off of the pillow in surprise. Burt chuckled.

"How did you know?"

"I saw the way you blushed every time he said something to you that first day he was at the shop. And really, I mean you've seen him." Burt cracked a smile. "If I was much younger and playing for your guys' team—"

"Okay Dad, that's enough." I allowed myself a half smile.

"Well you asked." Burt patted me on the back. "All joking aside, I don't think you two will have a problem getting past this little bump in the road. I could tell that that kid has been through a lot and if you could break a fraction of his shell in the couple weeks you've known him, there's no way that something wasn't meant to come out of this relationship, whether it be friends or... something more."

I let out a watery laugh. "Do you really think that?"

"I only speak the truth Kurt. You love and care for others with everything in you. If anyone can get through this and make it work, it's you." Burt smiled. "I know Blaine will come around. At the very least, he needs to come back to the shop eventually because that kid's got so much wrong with that metal death trap of his and no one else is going to give him the discount I am."

"Oh, well, in that case..." I joked, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you Dad."

"Anytime Kid," he mumbled, his voice muffled in my shirt. "I need you to keep me posted though, okay? If anything ever happens between you two or something happens to you, I need to know how to track him down—"

"That's enough Dad," I cut him off again and laughed as he cracked a joking smile and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I laid on the bed for a while longer before groaning as I got up to retrieve my phone.

_I'm coming over,_ I send him, grabbing a sweatshirt and throwing on a random pair of jeans to replace the pajama pants I hadn't changed out of all day.

I made my way down the stairs, grabbing the car keys and saluting my goodbye to my dad as I made my way to the car.

After I start the car and turn up the heat, I looked at my phone and saw a text from Blaine. Heart racing, I slid my thumb across the screen to read it.

_Okay_.

**x.x.x.x**

As I grappled to remember which streets led to Blaine's house, I began to wonder what I was even going to say to him when I got there. I knew he wasn't going to want to talk, so I had to prepare my own speech.

Did I really want a relationship? Did I really want to have a relationship with _Blaine_, someone who you never knew what you were going to get when you were with him?

I couldn't deny that I thought Blaine was extremely attractive. Probably the most attractive guy I'd ever seen. The aura of mystery he put off was part of his appeal, not to mention his eyes that made anyone melt and his muscles...

I shook my head as I pulled into his driveway, forcing myself not to think about all the things that could potentially distract me from what I went there to do. Making my way up the walk, I let out a deep breath and rang the cracked doorbell.

There was silence for a moment before yelling took over. Three voices, two deeper ones and a higher one.

"_One of you boys better get off your lazy behinds and go answer the door!"_

"_Don't lump me in with Cooper, he's the one who hasn't gotten dressed in three weeks!"_

"_It's two, get your facts st-straight!"_

"_Someone just answer the door!"_

Two of the voices were slurred, the male one Kurt assumed belonged to Cooper and the female one. Kurt assumed the other belonged to Blaine. After another minute, the door creaked open, Blaine's dazed face the first thing he saw. The boy looked tired, hung-over and disheveled in his sweatpants and wife-beater, his curls wild and untamed.

"Blaine?" I said hesitantly, making a move to enter the house as Blaine continued to stand still. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled, shuffling out of the way slowly so I could enter and then slamming the door behind him.

"Who is it?" the female voice shouted.

"The police! Tell Cooper to clean up the living room, it looks like we're a bunch of drug dealers," he responded, a sarcastic edge to his voice. I swallowed a lump in his throat, feeling a sense of déjà vu as I followed the other man up the stairs to his bedroom. When we safely reached the room, Blaine having slammed that door shut as well, the two of us stood there, staring at the other and waiting for someone to say something, anything. I felt it was my duty to speak up, since I was the one who'd shown up uninvited, but even after my attempt at planning a monologue, I couldn't come up with anything.

"You should probably say something, considering you're the one who invited yourself here," Blaine mumbled, so quiet I could barely make out the words.

"I know," I said. "I know."

We were quiet for a couple minutes more before Blaine let out an exasperated sigh. "Well you can start with why you showed up on my doorstep."

"You wouldn't return any of my texts. Or calls. Or emails."

"You didn't think that was intentional?"

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I began to pace. I knew that if I was going to get through to Blaine, it was going to take patience, hard work and very careful word choice. "I just want to know why you kissed me and then dropped off the face of the Earth." So much for careful word choice.

Blaine stood there, glaring at me. I didn't back down, shoving the scared feeling away and never averting my gaze from the other man's. Eventually, he groaned, throwing his head back and running his hands through his hair.

"I just… I can't believe I let myself do that okay? I don't do things like that and I was an idiot and I just… didn't feel like dealing with the inevitable interrogation. Is that good enough for you?" Every time he said _that_, I thought back to when he kissed me and got mixed feelings in regards to how he didn't mention the event specifically.

"No," I said, taking a careful step towards Blaine. "Why don't you let yourself do things like that?"

"Because," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because why?"

Silence. I didn't move and neither did he. "Do you really think adding emotional feelings towards another human being to this disaster of a person is good for any party involved?" he gestured to himself and I had to prevent myself from staring at his arms or chest, muscles evident through the thin fabric.

"You're not far gone, Blaine," I said soothingly, "you only think that because it seems like that's what you've grown up with."

"You think?" he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. He biceps, now twice as obvious, became the only thing I could look at. "Besides, I don't… I don't do _this_." He gestured to the space between him and me.

"What's _this_?" I imitated the gesture.

"_This_ is the whole gay thing." I winced as soon as he said it and his face softened the slightest bit. "Not like that, but when you made that comment to me back in science about people talking about me, it irritated me, even though you never said specifically what you heard about me. I know that I'm supposed to serial date every female in the school, but I just…" He trailed off and I stayed silent and still, not wanting to ruin the progress we were making. I couldn't believe that this Blaine was the same one that hadn't spoken to me in over a week. "I just have no desire to date any of them. But I can't shake the feeling I get when I think that I'd prefer date… Johnny Depp. Or some guy from the football team."

"And what's wrong with that?" I asked.

"It's clear you've never met my family. They're the biggest group of homophobic idiots I've ever met. And it doesn't fit the image I put off. And…" he trailed off, continuing a minute or so later barely above a whisper. "I'm terrified. I'm terrified I'll be pulverized by the jock idiots I intimidate and hated by everyone in the school. It'll mean I would have wasted the last three years of my life building this image to prevent exactly that."

"You don't have to hide behind a fake persona to make it through high school," I tried to convince him before he cut me off.

"Psh. Of course you do. You do it." That last sentence, those three little words, hit me hard. Like someone punching my in the stomach.

"I…" I started, but couldn't seem to finish. I had completely forgotten about that day in gym class, where he'd practically told me he knew that I was gay. "That's…"

"It's the same thing. You pretend you're not gay, I pretend I'm this tough guy. We can't criticize each other because we're both offenders."

"You're right," I stated after taking a deep breath. "I do. I came to this school, pretending I wasn't gay, because I got terrorized at my old school for it. I thought that I could start with a clean slate here and my life would be easier. But… I shouldn't do that. I shouldn't hide who I am. And you shouldn't either."

"What, do you suggest we start a revolution and overthrow the social structure of the school?"

I chuckled. "No, but I do suggest we start trying to be ourselves. And I know that sounds scary, but we can start small. We can start by telling each other who we really are." I paused, holding out my hand. "Hello. My name is Kurt Hummel. I love musicals, singing, fashion, hate sports and hope to live in New York City someday. Oh, and I'm gay." I stopped, nodding at Blaine that it was his turn. I kept my hand extended for a couple minutes before he slowly reached out his own and fit it into mine.

"Blaine Anderson. I love college football." He paused, looking down and I could have sworn I saw him blush. "I-I also love to sing. I read V-Vogue magazine more than I'd like to admit. A-And I'm g-gay."

I could feel a tear make its way down my cheek at the progress I'd made on Blaine. I sat down; my legs crossed and patted the place in front of me, gesturing for Blaine to sit. He did. I scooted closer to him so our knees were touching. "That was perfect. Now, can you promise me something?" He didn't say or do anything, but I continued anyway. "I will try to be myself more at school if you will. I'm not saying to tell everyone everything there is to know about you, but… try not to keep the hard exterior up all the time. People deserve to know the real you."

The room was silent for multiple minutes, neither one of us speaking. After a while, he looked up to look me in the eyes.

"I can't promise anything," he murmured. "I just… I can't promise anyone anything. But I…" he trailed off before leaning forward slowly. I did the same, meeting him halfway and slowly connecting our lips.

This kiss was nothing like our first. This one was much more careful, hesitant and tear-filled. I was prepared for this one and it didn't seem like Blaine was as unsure and scared this time. He still seemed scared, terrified even, but when we pulled away and I saw the tiniest hints of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips, I knew I'd gotten through to him.

"See? Wasn't that better?" I whispered, a small smile of my own playing on my lips as I rested my forehead against his.

"Little bit," he murmured in response. He leaned his chin forward, connecting our lips again.

As we kissed, I couldn't help but wonder where this left us. Were we "dating"? Were we even friends? Would he acknowledge me at school? Would he ever contact me again? My head began to spin, whether it was from the questions or the kiss I didn't know, I forced myself to push all of those thoughts out of my mind. All I wanted to do was focus on the taste of Blaine on my lips and how perfect it felt to be sitting on his floor kissing him. The rest could be sorted out later.


	7. Chapter 6

**This chapter is the first time y'all will see Blaine's point of view and get a glimpse into his world. The switch from Kurt's point of view to his is pretty obviously marked, and as usual the rest of the chapter is in Kurt's point of view.**

* * *

><p>Throughout the next week, my life went from average to absolutely perfect.<p>

All my worries about whether or not Blaine would acknowledge me at school evaporated as I noticed Blaine beginning to act a little more like the man I'd been getting to know in private. He'd even begun wearing different outfits, ones that didn't include a combination leather jacket, white t-shirt and black jeans ensemble. It was amazing how quickly he was beginning to act like himself around me and how willing he was to embrace the part of him that he'd been trying to hide his whole life.

I too had been trying to show the world who I really was. Well, not the _whole_ world…more like McKinley High School. But everyone has to start somewhere. I began, one day at a time, adding pictures to my locker to make it more personal: Lady Gaga, _Wicked_, some outfits I'd been _dying_ to buy by my favorite designers. I knew that it wasn't too big of a step, especially considering I'd yet to tell Mercedes or Tina that I was gay, but it made me feel better. Especially because I could tell that Blaine was trying as well.

A week after we kissed in his bedroom, I was at my locker when I heard the sound of someone leaning against the lockers and murmuring my name.

"Hey Kurt," the voice said, deep and soft, and I felt a shiver shoot through my body. I closed my locker door just enough so I could see Blaine's face. He had a small smile playing on his lips and I grinned when I looked down and noticed his blue jeans and band t-shirt featuring a group I didn't recognize.

"Hi Blaine," I said, a blush coloring my cheeks at the way he was looking at me. I couldn't get used to being looked at like that by someone as attractive as Blaine. "I love your outfit."

Blaine chuckled. "Thanks. I figure it's a start; nothing too drastic. I've noticed you've been dressing a little different as well." He nodded in my direction, gesturing to my outfit. I looked down at my outfit: white jeans with a blue collared shirt and matching scarf.

"Even though I never completely hid who I was when it came to my wardrobe, I'm going to try to open up a little more." I smiled as Blaine reached and brushed something off my shoulder.

"Well I think you look amazing," he whispered, just loud enough for only me to hear. My blush deepened, and I closed my locker door and put my bag on my shoulder. "So are you ready for science?"

"Oh yes, because science is _totally_ my favorite subject," I muttered, my tone soaked with sarcasm and Blaine laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Well, it's a class I get to spend with you, so I think I can live with it." I looked at Blaine, who was looking at me and smiling.

"This is great," I said as we neared the classroom. "Being able to walk together in the hallways, I mean. I do wish that we didn't have to hide our relationship from everyone for fear of being ridiculed, but this is still…"

"Great?" Blaine teased and I playfully hit him on the arm. "Although I've been thinking about the fact that we have yet to go on an _actual date_." He spoke the last two words in a whisper and I ignored the feeling in my stomach; the feeling that said that Blaine was embarrassed to talk about us.

I shook my head at the feeling and let a smile spread across my face as we walked into the room, finding it about half full of students. "Have you now?"

"I have. And…I think I'm ready to go out on a real date with you. In public." I cringed and Blaine immediately sensed the connotation of his words. "Babe, you know what I mean."

"I know, but…" I trailed off, not knowing how to convey my feelings in words. "It's just that, I'm glad you're more open to being yourself and walking with me in the halls, but I still feel like you may not be ready to be in an actual _relationship_ with a man. One that involves more than acting like friends in public, but then making out in your bedroom."

"Kurt, you know how I feel. You can't expect me to be ready to dive head first into the idea right away. I've been wrestling with this since I was seven years old." Blaine looked at me with his liquid hazel eyes and I practically felt my insides immediately melt. "I'm trying. But you need to let me move at my pace and I'll let you move at yours. We'll get there eventually."

I sighed. He was right and I knew it. "You're right. I appreciate everything you're doing, coming out of your comfort zone." I grinned at the unintentional word choice. "No pun intended."

He groaned and rolled his eyes as Mr. Reisert walked into the room, back straight, folder clung to his chest and head held high.

"Okay class, everyone get into your lab groups and get ready; the lab we're doing today will in fact take the whole class period to complete. Any time you all waste getting started will directly result in more homework for every one of you."

**x.x.x.x**

_Were you serious about that "real date" thing?_

I sent a text to Blaine later that night as the memory of our conversation came back to me while I was doing my homework. A reply came back with a _ding _moments later.

_Absolutely. But none of the lousy romantic stuff. Something fun._

I couldn't help the slightly disappointed feeling that washed over me as I read Blaine's reply. As much as I understood where Blaine was coming from - how he didn't want to be completely out-and-proud on a cliché date just yet - it was hard for me to ignore the hopeless romantic in me. As soon as the idea that Blaine was my _boyfriend_ had hit me, I'd practically made a list of all the couple-y, sappy romantic things we could do. I'd never thought of myself as that kind of a person, but it was all I'd been able to think about recently.

_Okay, well what were you thinking then?_

After over half an hour of debating on the pros and cons of what seemed like every place in the Lima area, we decided on the strip mall downtown. We confirmed our availability for this Saturday night, and as I turned back to my homework, I was unable to get Blaine off of my mind.

**x.x.x.x**

The rest of the week seemed to drag on at an unbearably slow pace. Every minute spent that wasn't Saturday night, when I'd be able to go on an _actual date_ with Blaine, seemed to be a waste of time.

When Saturday finally arrived, I spent most of the day attempting to help my dad in the shop. Since my mind was preoccupied, I turned out to be more of a hassle than a help. First, I spilled a bottle of oil all over the ground and spent a decent amount of time cleaning it up and then bringing the ruined rags to the laundry room in an attempt to get them clean. I then proceeded to give Burt the wrong oil when he was fixing one of our wealthiest customer's car, which finally got my father's attention.

"Okay Kid, do you just not want to be here today? Because honestly, we'd probably be better off if you just went about your business instead of almost putting the _wrong oil_ in Mr. Lindsey's car." Burt dried his hands on a rag and turned to me.

"I'm sorry Dad," I said sheepishly. "I'm just… a little distracted today, is all."

"Is there something wrong?" Burt asked, concern written on his face.

"No, no," I assured him. "It's… I'm going out with Blaine tonight."

"Oh yeah, the kid with the mess of a car? Never saw someone with a car that needed that much work done before."

"Y-Yeah, that's him. But," I paused, taking a deep breath, "we're going out. On a d-date."

The surprised look that appeared on Burt's face didn't make me feel any better, but it also didn't make me feel worse. "On a date? Like a, you know, _romantic_ date?"

I blushed. "Yeah Dad. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but—"

"Are you two… _dating_?"

"Um, well, sort of. He's not quite as comfortable about his sexuality as I am yet, so he's hesitant to—"

"Be seen in public with you?"

"Well not exactly. We walk together and stuff in the hallway, but this is the first time we're going on a date in public…"

"Wait, so you _are_ dating?"

"For a little over a week now, yeah."

"And you've had dates _not_ in public before this?"

I could feel my face turn beet red at the questions and the connotation of what I'd said. I opened my mouth to try to reassure him, but Burt shook his head and put out a hand.

"You know what, I don't want to know. Just… be careful okay? Don't do anything crazy or rush anything, use protection—"

"_Dad_," I groaned, covering my face in embarrassment. "Neither of us is ready for that, don't worry. But… I'll be careful. I promise."

"Good. Also, be careful of him in general, okay? He comes across as this tough, no emotion guy and I know he may not be like that once you get to know him, but I don't want you falling to fast for this guy and then having him hurt you."

"Dad, he's nothing like that. But I will. I know the risk here, being with someone who's just recently out of the closet to himself and not even to everyone else, but… I'm not even officially out at school. So we understand each other in that sense."

I saw my dad take a deep breath, then let it out as he took off his dirty baseball cap, rub his head, and then put it back on. "Just, be careful. Do what _you_ think is right, not what you think _others_ think is right, even Blaine. Other than that though, I'm happy for you Bud." He clapped me on the back, and then grinned. "I saw how you were looking at him that first day he came into the shop. You really seemed smitten."

I blushed again and playfully hit him on the arm before leaning in to hug him. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

"No problem. I'll always be here for you." He smiled and I smiled in return before heading out of the garage and back to the house, practically skipping the whole way there.

**x.x.x.x**

_Blaine's POV_

I groaned as I threw another band t-shirt on the floor in a futile attempt to find appropriate clothing for my date with Kurt. After an hour of searching, I had yet to find a suitable outfit, especially because I knew how great Kurt was going to dress and how awful I was going to look in comparison.

I heard a knock on my door and I threw my head back in frustration. "What do you want?"

The door opened and Cooper came in, wearing only a pair of ratty sweatpants.

"What do you want?" I repeated as he moved some clothes to make room for him to sit on my mattress.

"I just…" He took a deep breath and I turned back to my closet and my dwindling selection of clothing. "I wanted to say good luck on your date tonight."

I froze, whipping my head around to give Cooper a death glare. "What are you talking about?"

Cooper didn't seem to be phased by my expression. "Your date. With Kurt. I wanted to say good luck."

I briefly considered denying everything, asking again what he was talking about, but didn't see the point. Cooper seemed pretty adamant about the fact that I was going on a date with Kurt. I just didn't know how he knew. "How do you know this? And does Mom know? Or anybody else?"

"Calm yourself, I know what someone who's going out with someone they like looks like. But no one else knows." He paused, thinking. "Well, I guess anyone who listens when you two are up in here "studying" might know." Cooper used air quotes around the word _studying_ and for the first time in a long time, I felt myself blush. "Anyone with ears can tell that you aren't studying, with all that groaning and moaning that goes on in here—"

"Okay, that's enough," I interrupted. "Cooper, you know how serious this is right? No one else but Kurt knows about this, or that I'm… that I'm…"

"Blaine, calm down," he said again. "No one knows. I mean, the people who see you two later will, but other than that—"

"I doubt it. We're not going to the movies or dinner or anything. We're just going to that strip mall downtown—"

"You're not taking him on a proper date?" Cooper exclaimed loudly. I threw a pair of pants at him, which he quickly deflected as he reached for a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. "That's not the Anderson way."

"How would you know _the_ _Anderson way_? I haven't seen a girl around here asking for you since…"

"Yeah I know. Before that idiot left, I was a lady's man. Everyone wanted a piece of this," Cooper said, performing a bizarre thrusting motion that caused me to throw another article of clothing at him.

"Hey, watch it. Knock the cigarette out of my hand and we've all got bigger problems. Now, I don't want to bug you, but I just wanted to make sure you knew to be careful with him. He's not like us Blaine; he's had a much different life than you and I."

"I know, I know," I said, pacing around the room as Cooper continued to stare at me. I stopped, suddenly noticing something I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed before. "Wait, you're not drunk right now."

"Nope. I've been proud of you lately; you've been cutting back ever since Kurt's been coming around, so I thought I'd attempt to cut back. I haven't had a drink since last night."

A grin involuntarily spread across my face. "I'm very proud of you, Coop."

"Thanks. But I think I'm gonna have one when I get downstairs, I'm starting to get sweaty…" I chuckled. "I really am going to try though. Weaning off the other stuff will be harder, but you seem to be able to cut back, so who says I can't? I've been considering trying to make something of my life lately anyway."

"That's great." Cooper stood up to leave, but I stopped him. "Cooper?" He turned to look at me. "D-Did you know I was gay before Kurt?"

"You know, I had my suspicions before Dad left, considering you wanted to add bowties to your baseball uniform when you were five, but after he left and we all changed… I wasn't sure."

"And you're… you're okay with it?"

"Of course I am. I had plenty of gay friends at school. In my opinion, it doesn't matter who you love; as long as you're happy."

I smiled. "Thank you Cooper. Now go have that drink."

"I'm gonna," he said, taking a puff of his cigarette before closing my bedroom door behind him, leaving me, once again, with a pile of clothes and an empty closet.


End file.
